Sources connected with the Raptors are denying that team
part-Owner & President John Bitove Jr. is seeking to decrease his
share in the club or "get out altogether," according to James
Christie of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. There has been speculation
in Toronto of Bitove selling his share to fellow owners Allan
Slaight or the Bank of Nova Scotia. Bitove and Slaight each hold
39.5% of the team, the Bank of Nova Scotia 10%, VP Isiah Thomas
9%, former Canadian Premier David Peterson 9% and Atlanta
Packaging 1%. Bitove on the rumors: "It's total fallacy. I
have no desire to get out of basketball" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL,
9/10).
ARENA PENALTY TIME: If construction on the Raptors 22,500-
seat, C$180M Air Canada Centre does not begin by October 1, the
team will have to make a C$1M donation to charity for the second
year in a row, according to the GLOBE & MAIL's James Christie.
The agreement was part of the '94 deal in which the province
dropped the NBA from its Pro-Line betting game. Christie writes
predictions of a start date for the project have been "wrong so
often" that Bitove will not make a target date anymore (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 9/10).
